Berlin, 9 June 2009
A discussion-based event entitled "Diesel from renewable resources – a step toward zero-emission transportation?" was attended today in Berlin by Daimler AG, Deutsche Post DHL, the energy group OMV, the Finnish oil company Neste Oil, and the public transport company Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG. The companies presented the initial results of their joint pilot project focusing on fuel from sustainable production technologies.

Since mid-2008, 14 series-production Mercedes-Benz trucks and buses running exclusively on sustainably produced NExBTL diesel fuel have been in service in Germany. The vehicles have already covered in excess of one million kilometres. The field test shows that the combustion of diesel fuel made from hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) significantly reduces pollutant emissions.

Emissions of nitrogen oxide, for example, are reduced by up to 15 per cent. The overall CO2 balance is also positive. From the sustainable cultivation of the raw material palm oil used in the pilot project to its processing and ultimate use in the vehicle, CO2 emissions fell by more than 60 per cent compared with fossil fuels.

The joint project is scheduled to run for a three-year period ending in 2011. Its objectives are to test the feasibility of a new diesel fuel made from renewable resources and to determine the CO2 savings that can be achieved under realistic conditions with series-production vehicles. The field test entails driving Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles a total of 3.3 million kilometres and achieving savings of more than 2000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. During this period, Deutsche Post DHL is operating ten Mercedes-Benz trucks in the Nuremberg region. They are made up of five medium-duty Atego trucks and five heavy-duty Actros vehicles.

Four Mercedes-Benz Citaro city buses are also being operated by Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG using NExBTL, the diesel fuel made from renewable resources. Neste Oil produces the biofuel and OMV is responsible for supplying the fuel to the project partners.